Call it Courage and the Survival of the Imperial Robinsonade

Abstract

This chapter argues that Armstrong Sperry’s Call it Courage cannot be considered a revisionist work of Robinsonade fiction (as it is sometimes interpreted) and that discussions of it in terms of postcolonial or feminist theoretical frameworks are limited precisely because of the text’s spurious ethnography. It also argue that Call it Courage is a particularly important example of a work of Robinsonade fiction whose didactic merit, ideological significance, and perceived value for young readers has changed over time. Ultimately, the chapter argues that Sperry’s narrative is a regenerated imperial Robinsonade in the guise of an indigenous Pacific Island tale, and that there is much to be suspicious of in the novel’s continued placement on North American school curricula.